ACT endorses new cycle to work provider gogeta

One of the newest cycle to work providers has got the seal of approval from ACT, which has just announced it endorses gogeta as an industry cycle to work provider.

The association had strong words for the handful of cycle to work providers “who haven’t fundamentally changed their offering in the almost 25 years since the scheme was launched”.

The ACT went on to note: “These salary sacrifice schemes charge independent bike retailers extortionate commissions of up to 15% on every sale, which are inevitably passed on to the consumer. They offer poor user experience, with employees forced to choose from limited stock and pay shock ‘end of term’ one off payments once they have paid off the bike costs. And HR teams are disincentivised from pushing the Cycle to Work benefit due to the incredibly cumbersome administrative burden of delivering it.”

It praised gogeta for reimagining cycle to work to satisfy employers, employees and key stakeholders in the supply chain and “most importantly IBDs who have kept the scheme alive for 24 years”.

gogeta offers:

• Ultra low commissions to bike retailers, allowing them to pass on the full benefit of promotions and prices to customers, thereby further incentivising new customers and greater cycling adoption
• An online marketplace where employees can browse live stock from the UK’s best independent bike shops and see tax free cycling savings in real time
• A platform where employees can apply and buy tax free, reducing the administrative burden on bike shops and employers
• Almost frictionless fulfilment for employers, meaning busy HR teams are much more likely to push the benefit to more employees as it won’t mean extra admin for them.

Launched in 1999, cycle to work was designed to enable more people to access cycling as a sustainable and healthy mode of travel and providing a mechanism for employers to loan bicycles to employees on a tax-free basis via salary sacrifice. The cycle to work market is now dominated by Halfords and Cyclescheme, who it is estimated account for as much as 90% of sales.

The ACT added: “A Google search of ‘Cycle to Work’ directs employers/ees to a wide range of scheme providers, with very little differentiation… The IBDs funding and critical role in product supply and set up has been lost in a process that employers find cumbersome and less friendly than similar employee benefits schemes, whilst employees experience difficulties in accessing the product they want and a challenging purchase process.

“Scheme providers have benefited from accessing leading bicycle brands, whilst levying huge commissions on IBDs, which are far greater than other costs of sale such as credit cards or retail finance. As a result the scheme has helped providers to become highly profitable.

“Imagine if these funds had been reinvested back into UK cycling and especially the independent retail sector that paid them? Imagine a Cycle to Work scheme where:

• The costs of delivery were shared by all parties in the supply chain, not all borne by the IBD.
• Retailers actively promoted the scheme to their customers as the best solution to buy.
• Cycle brands fully engaged, investing in the promotion of the scheme and their retail customers.
• The significant investment in Cycle to Work was retained within the cycle industry.
• The scheme became a true force for good and many, many more people began cycling.

“ACT believes that this is what gogeta will deliver for employees, employers and the bike retail industry.”

Dealers can find out more and register with gogeta here. ACT members will benefit from a long term discounted commission of just 3%. More details here. Or for more dealers can also contact hello@gogeta.cc.

Undoubtedly, those legacy cycle to work providers have come in for a sustained level of criticism from those operating at the sharp end of the cycle market. Commission levels – referenced by the ACT above – have been a long term bug bear for independent bike shops working in the cycle to work market. The market has seen some innovative new providers launch relatively recently, like the Green Commute Initiative, and should gogeta (buoyed by the ACT’s endorsement) help invigorate the market at a time when cycle to work really ought to be coming into its own – sustainability now at the fore, ULEZ, tight consumer purse strings, etc – that can only be a good thing.